Monday, November 14, 2005

Ben Fawley: The Making of a Tragedy

Its been awhile since I have written about Taylor Behl. It has not been because I have not continued to follow the story, but mostly when I do write about her death it seeps into my being.

It has been now reported by the Richmond Times Dispatch that the prosecution may have a problem developing a case for murder against Ben Fawley. I am sure what the Commonwealth wants is a case for murder one, and they want the death penalty, but they have to dispute Ben Fawley's story that Taylor Behl accidentally died by his hands. Is there merit in his possible defense that this was a just a consequence of rough sex gone bad? Personally, I have my doubts.

There are some things that we will never know. We can speculate, and we can conjecture, but what really happened is locked in Ben Fawley's mind. Ben Fawley has not been exactly forthcoming with the truth. He has been caught in his lies from the beginning, each attempt of lying has been an adjustment when the facts showed his falsehoods. His story has been a process of ongoing editing to fit the facts, and still provide for his defense.

Some things we do know. He has admitted that she died during rough sex with him when he constricted her airway. We know that he has a past history of violence toward women. We know that her body ended near Erin Crabil's parents home. And we know that Erin Crabil who was once most likely the closest friend he ever had, became an object of personal hate.

Today as the investigation continues in the death of Taylor Behl, the state has placed a gag order on all the potential witnesses, and they are keeping quiet about the direction of the investigation. The coroners report about the cause of Taylor Behl's death is still pending. Her remains were mostly skeletal, and I am sure determinations can be difficult.

The big question I see is could he have been ignorant of the fact that he was killing Taylor Behl as he claims? Death by strangulation, follows a certain pattern:

"Clinically, a victim who is being strangled first experiences severe pain, followed by unconsciousness, and then brain death. The victim will lose consciousness by any one or more of the following: blocking of the carotid arteries (depriving the brain of oxygen), blocking of the jugular veins (preventing deoxygenated blood from exiting the brain), and/or closing off the airway, causing the victim to be unable to breathe. Only eleven pounds of pressure placed upon both carotid arteries for ten seconds is necessary to cause unconsciousness. If pressure is released immediately, consciousness will be regained within ten seconds. After 50 seconds of continuous oxygen deprivation the victim rarely recovers. To completely close off the trachea, three times as much pressure (33 lbs.) is required. For comparison purposes, it only takes 8 lbs. of pressure to pull a trigger on a gun. "

Now, what they can derive from the autopsy may be telling or may not be telling. We can only wait and see. But as you can see, that first a person being strangled would become unconscious, before death. Would that be enough to indicate to Ben Fawley that something was seriously wrong? And if you were engaged in this act, and you had the least amount of concern for the individual wouldn't you stop with the onset of unconsciousness?

There have been some that have cared for Ben Fawley, one is Erin Crabil, who helped the prosecutors to find the place were the remains of Behl Taylor was found. In a sense I think she cares for Ben, even though he launched a terrible internet campaign against her.

Ben Fawley was a person of impulse, he acted before he thought of consequences. This is what ruined his relationship with Erin, and most likely led to the death Tayor Behl.

Erin perhaps commented on one of my previous posts. I am not going to say if it was actually her, there is a gag order. I will say the comment originated from a computer at Virginia Commonwealth University which she attends. And if it was her or not, it does give insight on her thoughts of Ben Fawley. She like Behl Taylor did not see the dangers that Ben Fawley posed, but Erin did end things before something more serious could have happened to her.